Light projector



Aug. 18, 1931. w. G. WOOD LIGHT PROJECTOR 3 Sheets-Sheet 1' Filed Nov. 21, 1928 V4 W A TTORNEYS.

INVENTOR.

Aug. 18, 1931. w. ca. WOOD LIGHT PROJECTOR I Filed Nov.

21 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet v FIG.

IN V EN TOR.

Z By W ww ib ATTORNEYS.

W. G. WOOD LIGHT PROJECTOR Aug. 18, 1931.

Filed Nov. 21, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

BY 0 W 7 ATTORNEYS.

Patented Aug. 18, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I 7 WILLIAM G. WOOD, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR T AMERICAN WOODLITE CORPORATION, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA,

CALIFORNIA LIGHT PROJECTOR Application filed November 21, 1928. Serial No. 320,808.

This invention relates to projectors for light and other waves, and, in combinat on with suitable light producing means, housing means, and mounting and adjusting means, incorporates a novel reflecting surface for producing a beam of light of high axial in-..

tensity having limited vertical spread but with wide lateral spread, the rays in the beam being approximately horizontal in the axial forward direction but being depressed below the horizontal in the lateral portions thereof.

In other words,lthe beam, being horizontal centrally, is adapted for use in automobile headlighting and the like, for the illumination of distant objects ahead, while the wide lateral spread with depressed extremities is adapted to adjacent side illumination.

In my pending application, Serial Number 99,684, filed April 5, 1926, I show in a light projector, an upper portion of hemiellipsoidal shape and a lower portion having for its median vertical profile an arc of a long ellipse, one focus of which is at the position of the light source, theother focus being at a distant'point on the same horizontal planeas thelight source.- ,Said. lower portion has elliptical arcs for contours on sections out by planes converging to a transverse horizontal line through the said distant point, said ellipses being elements'of a family of ellipsoids of revolutionhaving' one focus at the position of the light source, the other foci.

being disposed on a circular are which lies in the median vertical plane and whose" center isthe said distant point. t 1

Theoretically, this reflector will project light, originating at the principal focus, in planes of a. horizontal pencil of planes to converge at the axis thereof, which is the transverse horizontal line through the said distant point; but it was contemplated that,

in practice, due to the size of the filament of the commercial light bulb, the beam would be of somewhat uniform vertical spread. For

vehicle headlighting such a beam is not ideal. The permissible light bulbs are of too low candlepower, and the area illuminated is too great, to give a strong central beam. Furthermore, the lateral. extremities of thisbeam are too highly elevated to be efl'ectual for road lighting.

In the co-pending case herein cited, it is shown that the contour of the lower reflector causes the reflected light rays-to cross, withinthe aperture, on the said circular arc in the median vertical plane. In other words, the right hand side of the reflectorprojects its rays into the left hand side of the beam, and vice versa.

In the invention disclosed herein I am able to increase the intensity of the'central por' A CORPORATION 01 of the reflector which reflects the beam, viz.,

the side opposite the half of the beam to be depressed, the-axis of rotation being the line connecting the proximate focus and the remote forward focus on the horizontal line. Thus by a combination. of angular displacements in both horizontal and vertical directions, and about the principal focus as a'cen ter, I am able to intensify the central light beam and also cause a depression of the lat I I eral portions thereof. 7

By opening outwardly the two lateral halves of the above mentioned reflector there will be formed an angular'open section in the reflecting surface. I fill this open section with a reflecting surface whichnlongitudinal planes intersect in arcs of conic sections conforming to the median profiles of the saidlateral halves. The arcs defining themedian profile of the former reflector nowintersect, due to the angular dis lacement of the sides of the former re ector, and the said intersecting arcs define the curvature of the section placed in the above mentioned angular open section;

' Further improvements in this reflector are also herein disclosed. I find that the mechanical operations of forming and finishing the concave inner surface 0 he reflector are simplified by constructing the same in separate portions, the upper hemiellipsoid and" the lower portion of the reflector being parted on the median horizontal plane (i. 'e., through the horizontal plane containingthe principal focus) and the lower portion itself being parted on its median plane.

For convenience, the term conoloid is herein used to define a surface of the general contour of the reflector disclosed in my said prior application; that is to say, it is the envelope of a family of prolate ellipsoids of revolution having constant length of major axes, the proximate foci of which are fixed and common to all members of the family, the major axes lying in a plane and the remote foci lying upon the arc of a circle whose center lies in the plane of the ma jor axes and is exterior to the generated surface.. When the center of the circular arc is at infinity, the arc becomes a straight line. Said arc may be either convex or concave with respect to the proximate focus,

depending upon whether it lies between the proximate focus and the exterior point or behind the proximate focus.

The following description and accompanying drawings explain the details of myinvention.

Figs. 1, and 3 are side elevation, front elevation, and plan view, respectively, of the geometrical figure herein defined by the word conoloid.

Fig. 4 is the plan view, and

Fig. 5 is the front elevation, respectively, of a reflecting surface adapted to project light rays in a wide beam horizontally, but with the central portion intensified by super-imposing rays coming from one side of the reflector upon rays from the opposite side. I

Fig. 6 is the plan view, and Fig. 7 is the front elevation, respectively, of a reflecting surface adapted to deflect the jateral portions of its wide beam downward- Figs. 8 and 9am front and side elevations, respectively, of my light reflector, showing the means which I employ to hold the several parts of the reflector in-a rigid unit.

' Fig. 10 shows the details of the spring locking bail which binds the upper and lower portions of the reflector.

Fig. 11 shows in detail the method of holding rigidly together the-flangesof the lower part of the reflector by means of folded metaltongues. Fig. 12 is a representation of the theoretical light beam-having an overlapping central portion.

Fig. 13\ represents the theoretical light beam' with an overlapping central portion and symmetrically deflected lateral portions.

14 shows the light beam with asymmetrically deflected lateral portions.

Figs. 15 and 16 are front and side elevations, respectively, of a conoloid arranged to project a beam having depressed lateral portions from a top as well as a bottom refleeting member.

In my pending application, Serial Number 99,684, I'show the geometrical construction of a surface having a point for the fixed proximate focus and a line for the locus of the remote foci of all superficial elemental areas. In Figs. 1, 2 and 3, I show this geometrical figure and have coined the word conoloid to represent it. FQA F A F, in Fig. 1, FR'RF, 0 F.) in Fig. 2,fand T P T 0 T are three views there'- 0 In Fig. 1, A NA M is an ellipse with its proximate focus at a fixed point F its remote focus at F and its major axis at A The length of this axis is fixed and equal in length to the major axes of the series'of generating ellipsoidsf F is an exterior point on the axis A A and F F F F} is a circular arc with center at F1 and radius F F If the ellipseA NA} M revolves about its major axis it will generate a prolate ellipsoid of revolution. (In this ap lication the word ellipsoid,j will beun e'ring ellipsoid .moves;.along the-arc F, F

axis, the family of ellipsoidsthus defined will lie within the exterior bounding surface hereinafter to be known as a"con"oloid. The term hemi-conoloid will refer to. either "half of a conoloid as such would be divided by the median vertical plane F A F Consider any ellipsoid A N A M of the family of .ellipsoids and pass a plane through the exterior transverse line F F to include the radial line F F which contains the remote focus of said ellipsoid, intersecting the said ellipsoid in the ellipse T O T P Since this conic section is a portion of said ellipsoid, it may be considered as being a surface of infinitesimal width whichv will combine with ellipses taken in a similar manner from the family of ellipsoids, having fixed principal focus (F fixed length of. major axes (A A equals A A and remote foci positioned along the arc FJFJFQ, to form the closed figure referred to above as the conoloid. .Since it is a mathematical truth that the sum of the twofocal'. distances, F T plus T F is constant and equals the major diameter of the ellipsoid, and since F lies on the arc of a circle about F as center, it follows that the sum F T plus T F is constant and the point T lies on the arc of an ellipse whose foci are F F Similarly, the arc F T T F, is a hyperbola with foci at F and F stood to mean" prolateiellipsoid of. revolution.) It the remotej focus of the generat I which it may be stated that a conoloid is the surface which a pencil of planes-intersects inarcs of a family of ellipses, the major axes lying in a median plane, the vertices lying respectively on an elliptical arc and a confocal hyperbolic arc, the remote foci lying on a circular arc, whose center is on the axis of the said pencil of planes and is the remote focus of the said confocal arcs.

Acting as a beam projector the conoloid is, cut away forward of the arc F F F to permit emission of reflected rays originating at F Said reflected rays then follow the planes of the pencil and pass through the axis thereof, which is-the remote transverse line. They cross withinthe reflector.

upon the said circular are at the correspond ing remote foci of their respective, ellipsoids as shown in Fig. 3. The median, vertical plane, shown in Fig. 2 as the line F F divides the conoloid into two halves and, since the rays from the halves cross on the arc of the vertical circle, which is the locus of remote foci of the ellipsoids, said emitted I rays lie on the opposite side of the median. e

vertical plane from the side reflecting the f same. For example, rays reflected from the I left hand side of the conoloid will, on emer-' gence, lie on the righthand side of the said median vertical .plane. I

By parting the conoloid on said median vertical plane and separating the planes of' .the two halves by a horizontal angle withcenter at the proximate focus F thereflected rays therefrom can be made to overlap each other. This is illustrated in Fig. 12,

where B shows the theoretical beam as freflected from the left hand hemiconoloidand L'shows the beam as reflected from the right hand hemiconoloid. The amount offoverlap is indicated by the letter P.

Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate a reflectingsurfacecomposed of the lower portion of two hemiconoloids superimposed with a hemi-ellipsoid whose proximate focus is likewise F com- 2 mon to the conoloid. The angle 2C, between the median planes, has its vertex at F The light rays represented by dash lines are I shown to cross at F, and F which lie on the lines F F and F F which are the loci of remote foci of the hemi-conoloids. In

Fig. 12, P represents the amount which-the two beams overlap, viz, angle 20 multiplied by the distance from the focus F to the screen or object upon which the beam falls.

The horizontalangle 2C, Fig. 4, with vertex at F is the projection of a solid or dihedral angle whose axis is a vertical line through F By spreading the median planes through the angle 20, that portion of the will divide this portion and the duplicated corners can be eliminated.

The opening F, Y F is filled with a reflecting surface whose profile will follow the elliptical arcs F Y and F Y.

If, however, the hemi-conoloids be separated by the dihedral angle, 2d, whose axis is A A, in Figs. 6 and 7, the reflected rays will cross along the loci of remote foci F F and F F and the lateral beams will be inclined downwardly by the angular amount, at, The opening between the median planes of thehemi-conoloids will now be the angular part F A F To complete the reflectingsurface, this angularpart may be 'filled with ajsection from an ellipsoid Whose axis is, A 1A,? andhaving' arcuate sections equal to-A F" land A F or otherwise. i tor may bethe..fu1l hemi-' mentsPA Pia'and O AD, f fromgthe hemi-conoloids.

v'erlapping "central porateralportions, a comrizontafl.;andf'vertical di- "ara tio'nfl orthe segment'P'A O. In'

tor whichwill give a ,r. themedian' planes is ;:used,jtlie overlapping central por- "tion being obtained: by the horizontal separation, *an'gle 2C, -Fig ;'4,i and the lateral. dey pression being obtained by rotating themedian planes ofthe' hemi-conoloid outwardly.

through the angles d, d. See 7. This construction is embodiedin the lamps of Figs. Sand 9, and produces-beams of thechar actershown in Figs. 13 andl. The icombined rotation about the horizontal and vertical axes through the common proximate is inclined in both horizontal and vertical directions. In other words, when the axis .foc'us results in the median planes of the hemi-conoloids forming a dihedral or solid;

angle. the vertex of which passes through the. proximate focus of the hemi-con'oloids andi '115.

of rotation of the two hemi-conoloids passes I inclined to the vertical, the beam therefrom will be both overlapped'laterally and be'deflected belowthe horizontal plane.

Figs. land 5 also show the angular disa A placementof two halves of the hemi-ellip soidal reflecting surface. This is denoted by the letters B Y B and is filled with a. reflecting surface which conforms to the through the. common proximatefocus and is I are separated by the are 20, Fig. 4. The

.. arrows therefrom indicate the overlapping beams from the two reflecting surfaces.

While Figs. 1, 5, 6 and 7 show the reflecting surface with a hemi-ellipsoid as upper half in combination with the lower part of a conoloid, the use of said hemi-ellipsoid is not essential to the proper functioning of the reflector. This form is used in certain types of vehicle headlamps to project all of the rays below the horizontal. The hemiellipsoid used is the upper half A MA of the generating ellipsoid A hile, N, Fig. 1.

Figs. 15 and 16 show the'jfull conoloid used as a reflecting surface, the two lateral halves being separated and rotated in opposite directions through theangles (1, d, theaxis of rotation being the main axis F F The broken lines show thepaths of the reflected rays. The angular space F. A F is filled with the reflecting section defined by the two arcs A F and A F The upper overlapping apices A KHF A and A KHF. A of the intersecting hem1-conolo1ds are removed. the two surfaces meeting along the arc A KH.

Figs. 12, 13, and 14 1llustrate the appear ance of a theoretical beam of light upon a nearby screen, the three formsrepresenting some of the variations obtained by separating the hemiconoloids with various dihedral angles, the vertex passing through the proximate focus- In Fig. 12 the dihedral vertex is vertical and the overlapped portion P 1 s horizontal and central. In Fig. 13 the d1- hedral vertex is inclined to the vertical on the line of the median vertical plane, resulting 1n a symmetrical overlapping P and deflection d of the lateral beam. In Fig. 14 neither overlap P nor lateral depressionsd and d; are symmetrical about the longitudlnal plane, due to unequal anglar displacements of the two hemi-conoloids.

As a manufactured article it is necessary to form the reflector in sections in order to press and polish the ellipsoidal and conolo dal surfaces. It is convenient to part the upper and lower portions on the: horizontal plane through the longitudinal axis and, further, to part the lower section on the vertical plane through the longitudinal axis. Figs. 8 and 9 illustrate this construction. Companion flanges D D are formed on the upper, U, and lower, S and T, sections along the principal horizontal plane PF O and companion flanges E E are formed on each of the lower sections S and T. Suitable means of binding the separate sections'are incorporated, some of which are shown herewith. The horizontal flanges D D also provide a means of holding the reflector in its housing. A shelf, a portion of which is shown at Z, Fig. 9, 1s part of the outer casing 'or housing and extends around the central contour of the body.

65 Holes X, are perforated in the flanges of the reflector to register with holes in the shelf. Spring locating and holding means are shown at 3 and 4 which look the parts together under spring tension. These consist of bails with shoulders 5 and hooks 6 which pass through the holes X. Bails 3 and 4: are adapted to be held together as shown in Fig. 10 by the ring 7 which is part of one of the bails.

The vertical flanges, E E, are held together by tongues V which register through the slots WV shown in Figs. 9 and 11. These tongues are seen to be portions of the flanges, and are cut and bent up at right angles to the flanges, the two halves of the reflector being then united and the tongues bent down as shown in Fig. 11 to hold the flanges in rigid contact. This may also be accomplished with rivets, screws, or other locking means. I

In Fi s. 8 and 9, I show an opening or orifice at This permits the'admission of a socket for a light bulb, exterior means being provided to adjust the filament thereof to its position at the proximate focus F Various changes in the construction and arrangement of the several parts herein shown and described may be employed, without departing from the spirit of my invention as disclosed in the appended claims.

And, while I have discussed only the proj ection of light waves, I wish to point out that the reflectors herein described may also be used for the projection of both sound waves and heat waves.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A reflector whose surface on opposite sides of the vertical median planes is composed of diminishing elliptical arcs which lie on planes converging to a remote trans verse line which passes through the exterior remote foci of the vertical elliptical arcs defining said median planes, and the vertical median planes being angularly displaced, with a line through the common proximate 7 focus as axis of rotation, and the opposite sides being joined together transversely with a reflecting surface. I

2. A reflector whose surface on opposite sides of the median planes is composed of di minishing elliptical arcs which lie on planes converging to remote deflected transverse lines which intersect each other at the common exterior remote focus of the elliptical arcs defining said median planes, the median planes being angularly displaced with relation to each other, by partial revolution, with the major axis of the principal ellipse as axis of revolution, and the opposite sides being joined together transversely with a reflecting surface.

3. A reflector whose surface on opposite sides of the median planes is composed of diminishing elliptical arcs which lie on planes :ture, said reflector 5 planes of the opposite similar elliptical arcs being declined downwardly toward each other; and the opposite sides of the reflector being joined together with a section of an ellipsoid of revolution formed by revolving the. elliptical arc of the median plane about its axis.

4. A reflector whose surface is composed of diminishing elliptical arcs parted on the mediap vertical plane, which is the locus of the major axes of the elliptical arcs, each half being then angularly displaced with relation to each other by partial revolution with the major axis of the principal ellipse as axis, and partial revolution with a line through the proximate focus of said main ellipse and perpendicular to the plane of the ellipse as axis; the opening thus formed being then closed by a transverse reflecting surface.

5. A reflector having a continuous surface formed with a narrow iight-emitting aperture, said reflector being shaped to project rays from a common focus through foci on two circular arcs lying within said aperture andhaving a surface which is the locus of 0 areas having a common proximate focus,'and

remote foci lying on fixed, horizontal. transverse lines.

6. A reflector having a continuous surface formed with a narrow, lightemitting aperbeing shaped to project rays from a common focus to foci on two circular arcs within the aperture, and whose surface is the locus of elemental areas having a common proximate focus, and remote intersecting,

0 foci lying on two fixed, transverse, inclined lines.

7. A reflector formed in sections, means for retaining the sections together, comprising flanges on the meeting edges of the sections formed with apertures in register, and a pair of bail-shaped sprin members straddling one of the sections and having their ends inserted in said openings and interlocked at their intermediate portions.

8. In combination, a metallic shell comprising an upper member of hemi-ellipsoidal form and a lower member divided on a median plane through the proximate focus thereofinto two lateral members, each being, portions of the lower halves of hemi-conoloids, having a proximate focus in common with each other and with the upper member, said hemi-conoloid port-ions being separated on their median planes by a dihedral angle,

the angular space between said hemi-conoloid portions being filled with a section which conforms to the profiles of the hemi-conoloid portions.

9. A reflecting surface comprising a lower member which is a combination of the lower halves of two hemi-conoloids having a com mon proximate focus and having median planes separated by a dihedral angle, and an upper member consisting of two ellipsoidal sections, whose major axes intersect angularly at their common proximate focus, and a wedge shaped filler section whose longitudinal section conforms to the profiles of the parted ellipsoidal surfaces; said reflecting surface having a light-emitting aperture.

10. A reflector surface which comprises a surface generated by a series of ellipses which lie on non-parallel contiguous planes passing through a common remote transverse line, the vertices of said ellipses being disof two conic sections posed along the arcs whose planes and foci are coincident, whose proximate focus is situated at the principal focal point of said reflector and whose remote focus lies on the remote transverse line, theremote foci of said generating ellipses lying on the arc of a circle whose center is at the remote focus on the transverse line, the said reflecting surface being parted on its median vertical plane of symmetry and the angular displacement of each of said parted portions about the common principal focus, and a simple reflecting surface across the opening formed by the angulardisplacement of said parted portions and conforming thereto, whereby a reflector is provided for producing a narrow beam whose distribution is governed by the angular displacement of said separated portions.

11. A reflector having a principal focus and a surface which, on opposite sides of a dihedral angle whose vertex passes through said principal focus, consists of a family of ellipsoidal segments, the major axes whereof are of constant length, one focus being fixed at said principal focus, the other foci being disposed along a circular arc in a median plane, said segments being selected to form a continuous confocal surface, said dihedral aperture.

- WILLIAM G. WOOD. 

